East Chicago woman charged in connection with wrong-way chase

An East Chicago woman has been charged in connection with the theft of $45 in merchandise and an ensuing pursuit in which police said she drove the wrong way on Interstate 65 and the Indiana Toll Road.

Loretta M. Johnson, 32, was charged in Lake Superior Court with three counts of criminal recklessness, all Level 6 felonies punishable by six months to two years and six months, three counts of misdemeanor reckless driving, and two counts of misdemeanor theft.

The incident began at about 4 p.m. July 20 when officers working at the Farmer's Market at Festival Park in Hobart heard of the shoplifting from H & M store at Southlake Mall and a fleeing, red car. Officers saw a red Dodge Neon on the inside lane of I-65, which was under construction with concrete barricades on both sides.

The entrance to the Borman Expressway was blocked, and the car continued north as one of the officers pulled in front of it with lights and siren activated in an attempt to stop it, but the car turned, drove onto the grassy median and moved north in the southbound lanes. It continued to the entrance of the Indiana Toll Road, where it crashed through a lowered gate and drove west, the probable cause affidavit said.

The pursuit continued onto Broadway, where the car reentered the westbound toll road. Police again tried to block it, but the car drove through the emergency median cut-over and traveled west in the eastbound lanes of the toll road. Numerous cars immediately shot over to the shoulder to avoid a crash, records said.

Two police vehicles discontinued the pursuit and learned from a Hammond toll booth attendant that the driver of the car "flipped her the bird" and mouthed an expletive as she drove past, records said.

Indiana State Police had picked up the pursuit and followed the car into Illinois before terminating the chase, records said.

Police identified Johnson through security footage at H & M, where a woman is seen rolling up a pair of pants and a shift and stuffing them into her purse before leaving as a second woman appeared to serve as a lookout, according to records.